Principals

Director's Statement: Music, including rhythm, is something I love. I have also found that the music of each community usually carries with it elements of the community's values and history. Since it is important for us to understand others on their own terms, I'm using an investigation of several of the world's rhythms and percussion instruments to lead us on this journey of understanding.

Let me add that I am also captivated by the talent and charisma of the several stars of these documentaries: Rasaki Aladokun, Peta Robles, Lalo Izquierdo (who unfortunately died in 2022), and the many others I have yet to film. Because he was such a great person and because of his many talents, I dedicate this series to Lalo Izquierdo.

Director's Bio: A filmmaker since 2004, like many other independent filmmakers, Ma is essentially self-taught. Her work has screened and been in festivals in eight countries on four continents. She produces and directs in both English and Spanish, and in certain respects considers herself an international version of Les Blank. Her passions are music, dance, and cross-cultural understanding; and she tries to combine each of these elements in her work, whether documentary, narrative, or experimental. Her earlier careers (history professor, lawyer, and non-profit administrator) also have a significant effect on her filmmaking.

Rasaki Aladokun, from Ikirun, Nigeria, is from a traditional Yorubá drumming family. He played with his father's group until joining the band of King Sunny Adé, known as the "King of Juju Music." After touring with world with King Sunny Adé, he settled down in Oakland, California, USA with his wife and children.

A man with an infectious laught, Rasaki Aladokun is a skillful player of many percussion instruments. He brought several drums and other instruments with him which he demonstrates in this documentary. He also shows how drums, and drumming, are an integral part of social life for the Yorubá, an essential part of their traditional religion, and are also used purely for entertainment.

Lalo Izquierdo, the recently deceased co-star of the Afro-Peruvian episode, was a dancer, choreographer, percussionist and folklorist of his Afro-Peruvian community. He taught workshops in many countries of South America and Europe, as well as In the United States, and represented his native Peru in the Olympic Games held In Mexico City.

Izquierdo for the last decade of his life, he taught and helped manage a cultural organization in San Luis de Cañete in Perú where he helped to keep alive his community’s traditions by passing them on to the youth of the community.

Peta Robles, the other co-star of the Afro-Peruvian episode, is Izquierdo's niece....

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Richard R. Lee is best known for his long-running on-line interview show, Sidewalks Entertainment, a celebrity and music TV series he started back in 1988. The series is broadcast over various cable stations from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, and many cities in between. Lee acts as producer and co-host - and also is the series' creator.

In addition he has worked as programmer and in technical aspects of several television stations in the greater San Francisco Bay Area including KTVU, KRCB, and KFCB. He is currently senior production member and on-air programmer for KCRT-TV, the cable station for the city of Richmond, California.